Racist robocalls tied to neo-Nazi group target Andrew Gillum

Andrew Gillum, one of the democratic candidates for governor, was campaigning in Cocoa Thursday, urging people to vote.

Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY

Robocalls against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum that say they were paid for by a neo-Nazi group in Idaho are going out to voters in Tallahassee.

The automated calls are narrated by someone pretending to be Gillum and using an exaggerated minstrel dialect with jungle noises in the background. The calls end with a disclaimer that they were funded by The Road to Power, an anti-Semitic, white supremacist website and podcast linked to Scott Rhodes of Sandpoint, Idaho.

Some things need change on how campaigns are run, from “dark-money” ads to robocalls.

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According to the Des Moines Register, a sister paper of the Tallahassee Democrat, the group has been linked to other robocall campaigns in Charlottesville, Virginia, Oregon and California.

Terry Kant-Rauch, a Tallahassee realtor, received one of the robocalls this morning in the voice mail of her cell phone. Kant-Rauch, a Democrat who happens to have a biracial daughter, became emotional after hearing it, she said.

“Campaign on the merits,” she said, “not on the color of his skin.”

Geoff Burgan, communications director for Gillum's campaign, responded by saying, "This is reprehensible — and could only have come from someone with intentions to fuel hatred and seek publicity. Please don’t give it undeserved attention."

The Democrat chose not to publish the audio because of its blatantly racist and offensive content. The call came from a phone number in Tallahassee with a 222 prefix.

The Democrat left a message for Rhodes, who also goes by the name Scott Platek, according to the Register. He did not immediately return the phone call.

The Register reported earlier this week that robocalls from The Road to Power were going out using the death of Mollie Tibbetts to promote white supremacist messages. Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student, disappeared July 18, and her body was discovered more than a month later. So-called alt-right groups have attempted to capitalize on her killing because the suspect is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.